Digital Commons Network^™

Phantastes Chapter 20: The Faithful Shepherdess, John Fletcher

German Romantic and Other Influences

John Fletcher (1579-1625) was a contemporary of William Shakespeare and followed him as main playwright for the King’s Men. The Faithful Shepherdess (produced in 1608, probably published in 1609) is also important for Fletcher’s definition of tragicomedy, which highlights the importance of near-death to the genre.

Phantastes Chapter 22: The Revenger's Tragedy, Cyril Tourneur

German Romantic and Other Influences

Cyril Tourneur (1575-1626) was an English dramatist, a contemporary of Shakespeare; Tourneur was also a soldier and politician. The Revenger’s Tragedy (1607), as its name implies, is a revenge tragedy, and comments on the battle to avenge the destruction by the giants that lead to the brothers’ deaths. Literary critics now believe that the play was written by Thomas Middleton (1580-1627).

Phantastes Chapter 24: The Honest Whore, Thomas Dekker, Thomas Middleton

German Romantic and Other Influences

Thomas Dekker (1572-1632) was a dramatist and writer of popular pamphlets describing London life. This line comes from the play The Honest Whore, Part II (1605 or 1606). The Honest Whore, Part I, a collaboration between Dekker and Thomas Middleton, was performed in 1604.

Phantastes Chapter 23: The Countess Of Pembroke’S Arcadia, Philip Sidney

German Romantic and Other Influences

Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1583) was an Elizabethan courtier, soldier, and poet. The quotation derives from The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia (1590), and sets out Sidney’s definition of a gentleman. Late in his writing career, MacDonald published a collection of excerpts from Sidney: A Cabinet of Gems, Cut and Polished by Sir Philip Sidney (1892). MacDonald lectured on Sidney as early as 1854.

The Deeds Of King Arthur Of Britain In The Latin World Chronicle Of Guillaume De Nangis, Guillaume De Nangis, Christopher Berard, Morris Tichenor

Humanities Program Faculty Publications

Translated by:

Christopher Berard and Morris Tichenor

At the Abbey of Saint Denis-en-France, the Benedictine monk and chronicler Guillaume de Nangis (d. 1300) wrote a Latin World Chronicle from Creation to AD 1300. The text contains an account of the reign of King Arthur of Britain that includes the celebrated Sword in the Stone Episode. This iconic scene was not traditionally part of the ‘historical’ account of King Arthur’s biography. The pseudo-historical Brut chronicle story of King Arthur, which originates with Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia regum Britanniae [History of the Kings of Britain] (c. 1136), has Arthur, aged …